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Rex Orange County

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Rex Orange County
O'Connor in January 2020
O'Connor in January 2020
Background information
Birth nameAlexander James O'Connor[1]
Born (1998-05-04) 4 May 1998 (age 26)
OriginGrayshott, England
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • drums
  • bass guitar
Years active2015–present
LabelsRCA[5]
Websiterexorangecounty.com

Alexander James O'Connor (born 4 May 1998), known professionally as Rex Orange County, is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. NPR Music's Zoë Jones has described O'Connor's music as "a bright blend of hip-hop, jazz, and bedroom pop".[6]

Teaching himself how to produce his own music at the age of 16, he released his debut album, Bcos U Will Never Be Free (2015), free of charge on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. O'Connor then released numerous solo singles throughout 2016 and 2017, including the platinum-certified singles, "Sunflower" and "Best Friend", and then released his second studio album, Apricot Princess (2017). After catching the attention of Tyler, the Creator with Bcos U Will Never B Free, they collaborated on two songs from Tyler's fourth album, Flower Boy (2017), which caused O'Connor to rise to prominence, allowing him to sign with RCA Records.

O'Connor released his third studio album, Pony (2019), lyrically exploring more personal topics, such as human emotion, and experimenting with different genres. The album became his first to enter the Billboard 200, peaking at number three on the chart. His fourth studio album, Who Cares? (2022), topped the United Kingdom, and reached number five on the Billboard 200.

Early life

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Alexander James O'Connor was born on 4 May 1998, to Nina and Phil O'Connor, a professional sports photographer. He grew up in the village of Grayshott, Hampshire near Haslemere.[7][8] O'Connor's interest in music began at a young age. At age 5, O'Connor joined the choir at the school where his mother worked.[9] He became a drummer and later taught himself piano. In school, he came up with the name, Rex Orange County, which was based on a teacher-given nickname, "The OC", after his surname O'Connor.[10]

Career

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2014–2016: Early career and Bcos U Will Never B Free

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Main article: Bcos U Will Never B Free

At age 16, O'Connor began playing the guitar and started to produce his own music using Apple's Logic software.[10][8] At this age, he also began attending the BRIT School where he studied drumming and was one of four percussionists in his year; the relative rareness of his primary instrument provided him with wide exposure to various projects of others in his school which he credits with exposing him to new music.[9]

O'Connor released his debut single, "Corduroy Dreams", as the lead single from his debut studio album, Bcos U Will Never B Free, on 18 May 2015.[11] On 4 September 2015, Bcos U Will Never B Free was self-released by O'Connor free of charge on Bandcamp and SoundCloud.[8] Upon listening to the album, fellow English musician and producer Two Inch Punch got in touch with him, providing him with a management team. The two would later collaborate on O'Connor's singles, including the single "Uno", released on 17 November 2016. Clash described "Uno", writing: "The buoyant keyboard riff underpins a hypnotic half-spoken vocal, one that veers from topic to topic in a hazy burst of creative mania."[12]

2017–2018: Rise to prominence and Apricot Princess

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Main articles: Apricot Princess and Flower Boy

Bcos U Will Never B Free caught the attention of the American rapper Tyler, the Creator, who sent him an email describing his enjoyment of the project. This led to Tyler flying O'Connor out the following year to Los Angeles to collaborate on his album Flower Boy,[13] O'Connor co-writing and contributing vocals to the songs "Boredom" and "Foreword".[14] On 25 January 2017, he released the single "Best Friend" (premiering on Apple Music's Beats 1 station), followed later in the year by the release of his second studio album Apricot Princess.[14] His work was compared by Aimee Cliff of The Fader in 2017 to "other artsy, post-genre teen artists, such as Kevin Abstract or Steve Lacy".[15]

O'Connor's first release following the success of Apricot Princess and Flower Boy was on 11 October 2017 with the single "Loving Is Easy", created in collaboration with the Dutch artist Benny Sings.[14] On 16 April 2018, he performed the song in his television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[16] On 31 May 2018, he released a cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me" in collaboration with Randy Newman, the creator of the song.[17] He was also featured in Spotify's Rise Program.[13]

On 9 October 2018, O'Connor was scheduled to appear on the French television programme Quotidien, but refused to perform because it featured a sketch by comedian Alison Wheeler parodying the Ku Klux Klan, which he called "tasteless".[18]

2019–2023: Pony and Who Cares?

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Main articles: Pony (Rex Orange County album) and Who Cares? (album)

On 14 February 2019, O'Connor released the single "New House". Later that year on 12 September, he released "10/10"; the lead single from his third album Pony.[19] Released on 25 October 2019, Pony was his first major-label album release through RCA Records.[6] Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a rating of 76/100 based on 11 professional reviews.[20]

O’Connor performing at his Pony tour in January 2020

On 30 September 2020, O'Connor released an EP with recordings from his performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City during his Pony tour titled Live at Radio City Music Hall alongside a documentary[21] released on YouTube. This documentary showed the events leading up to this performance as well as the early conclusion of the Pony tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, O'Connor confirmed that he was in the process of recording a fourth studio album titled Who Cares?.[22] In January 2021, he liked a Tweet seemingly confirming that it would be released at some point later that year.[23] However, this did not materialise. On 13 January 2022, he began officially teasing the album, sending out postcards containing a phone number that when called, a snippet of a song would play.[24] The album was released on 11 March 2022, and was his first to top the UK Albums Chart, entering ahead of Impera by Ghost.[25][26]

In July 2022, O'Connor cancelled tour dates in Australia, New Zealand and Europe due to "unforeseen personal circumstances".[27] He then released a stand-alone single, titled "Threat", on 10 August 2022.[28] In late 2023, O'Connor toured in countries throughout Australia and Asia.[29] He then performed at the 2023 Camp Flog Gnaw festival.[30]

2024–present: The Alexander Technique

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On 9 July 2024, O'Connor announced his fifth studio album, The Alexander Technique, after first teasing it one week prior on X.[31] On 18 July 2024, O'Connor released two songs, "Alexander" and "Guitar Song" and shared the 16-song tracklist for the album, which was released on 6 September.

Artistry

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Growing up, O'Connor listened to Queen, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, and American alternative artists like Weezer and Green Day.[13] He cites these artists and others as core inspiration for his own music.

Personal life

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In 2015, O'Connor began dating fellow British singer-songwriter Thea Morgan-Murrell (known professionally as Thea), having met while attending the BRIT School together.[32] He sang about her in several of his songs, and they collaborated on the tracks "Sycamore Girl" and "Never Had the Balls".[33][34] On 24 November 2020, he confirmed on Twitter that they were separated, tweeting "i am not in a relationship".[35]

On 10 October 2022, O'Connor appeared in Southwark Crown Court and was charged with six counts of sexual assault of the same woman, alleged to have taken place in June 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was bailed, with a trial provisionally scheduled for 3 January 2023. A representative for O'Connor released a statement on his behalf which read: "Alex is shocked by the allegations, which he denies, and looks forward to clearing his name in court. He is unable to make any further comment because of the ongoing proceedings".[36] On 22 December 2022, O'Connor released a statement saying all charges against him were dropped and the case was to be dismissed following an investigation by the Crown Prosecution Service. CCTV footage and a police interview with the complainant's partner – who was with her on the night in question – did not match her account, meaning the case did not meet the CPS's legal test for a prosecution.[37]

Accolades

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In January 2018, O'Connor came in second in the BBC Sound of 2018 award after Norwegian singer Sigrid.[38]

Discography

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Main article: Rex Orange County discography

Studio albums

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References

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  1. ^ "BMI | Songview Search". repertoire.bmi.com.
  2. ^ "Rex Orange County - Things to do in New York". Time Out New York. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Pony - Rex Orange County AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  4. ^ Bote, Joshua (14 February 2019). "This Valentine's Day, Rex Orange County Wants To Move Into A 'New House' Together". NPR.org. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. ^ Jones, Zoë (6 November 2019). "Rex Orange County Doesn't Care What You Call Him (Anymore)". NPR.org.
  6. ^ a b "Rex Orange County On What 'Pony' Means And How Fame Really Feels". Npr.org. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  7. ^ Dunn, Frankie (11 May 2017). "10 things you need to know about rex orange county". Vice.
  8. ^ a b c "Rex Orange County: The Emotionally Visual Mastermind of the Next Generation". noisey.vice.com. Ryan Bassil. 11 September 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Rex Orange County's Road From School Choir to 'Flower Boy'". PigeonsandPlanes. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  10. ^ a b Joshi, Tara (18 November 2017). "One to watch: Rex Orange County". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "corduroy dreams - Rex Orange County". SoundCloud. Rex Orange County. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Rex Orange County Shares 'UNO'". Clash. 17 December 2016.
  13. ^ a b c "Rex Orange County is An Old Soul Moving at Lightspeed". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b c "COLUMN: Rex Orange County is an artist that cannot be labeled". Indiana Daily Student. 23 March 2018.
  15. ^ "Rex Orange County Is Teenage Joy Personified". Thefader.com. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Rex Orange County performs "Loving Is Easy" on 'The Tonight Show'". Substream Magazine. 17 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Rex Orange County and Randy Newman – "You've Got a Friend in Me"". Spin. 31 May 2018.
  18. ^ Geffray, Emilie (11 October 2018). "Quotidien s'explique après l'annulation du groupe de Rex Orange County". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Rex Orange County's new album, Pony, to arrive next month via Sony Music". Music Business Worldwide. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  20. ^ "PONY by Rex Orange County". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  21. ^ Video on YouTube
  22. ^ Graves, Shahlin (17 October 2020). "Rex Orange County announces new album 'Who Cares?'". Coup De Main Magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  23. ^ Graves, Shahlin (14 January 2021). "Rex Orange County confirms 2021 release for new album 'Who Cares?'". Coup De Main Magazine. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  24. ^ Graves, Shahlin (13 January 2022). "Rex Orange County is sending fans postcards to tease... something". Coup de Main Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  25. ^ Lavin, Will (18 March 2022). "Rex Orange County scores first UK Number One album with 'Who Cares?'". NME. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Rex Orange County Announces The Alexander Technique With Two Songs". UPROXX. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Rex Orange County cancels 2022 Australian tour". ABC. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  28. ^ Skinner, Tom (10 August 2022). "Listen to Rex Orange County's sun-kissed new single 'Threat'". NME. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  29. ^ "Live". Rex Orange County. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  30. ^ "Camp Flog Gnaw 2023". Consequence. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  31. ^ Pointer, Flisadam (9 July 2024). "Rex Orange County's 'The Alexander Technique' Album Announcement Has The Musician In A Mellow Meditative State". Uproxx. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  32. ^ Graves, Shahlin (18 September 2018). "Interview: Introducing Thea and her new single 'So Simple'". Coup de Main Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  33. ^ Horne, Rory (26 April 2017). "Interview: Rex Orange County on his new album 'Apricot Princess'". Coup de Main Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  34. ^ "Thea". Genius. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  35. ^ @rexorangecounty (24 November 2020). "i am not in a relationship" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. ^ Youngs, Ian (11 October 2022). "Singer Rex Orange County charged with sexual assault". BBC News. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  37. ^ Richards, Will (22 December 2022). "All charges dropped against Rex Orange County in sexual assault case". NME. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  38. ^ "The Longlist, Meet the 16 longlisted acts for BBC Music Sound of 2018". BBC.
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